BG

December 11, 2010

Les Anges dans nos campagnes is a traditional French Christmas carol which was long ago translated into English as Angels We Have Heard On High. When I was a child we always sang it in French at home, at church and in school. I grew up in a Franco-American family and we attended St-Anne Parish, a parish in which my great grandparents and grandparents were among the founding members. We had our own parish elementary school and high school. In elementary school, we were fortunate to be taught in French half day and in English the other half. So you can understand why we sang French carols at our school.

Les Anges dans nos campagnes/Angels we have heard on high was a favorite carol. As a child, I loved singing the Glorias...

Les Anges dans nos campagnes

Les anges dans nos campagnes

Ont entonné l'hymne des cieux

Et l'écho de nos montagnes

Redit ce chant mélodieux<

Gloria in excelsis Déo! (bis)

Bergers, pour qui cette fête ?

Quel est l'objet de tous ces chants ?

Quel vainqueur, quelle conquête

Mérite ces cris triomphants :

Gloria...

Ils annoncent la naissance

Du libérateur d'Israël

Et pleins de reconnaissance

Chantent en ce jour solennel :

Gloria ...

Cherchons tous l'heureux village

Qui l'a vu naître sous ses toits

Offrons-lui le tendre hommage

Et de nos cœurs et de nos voix :

Gloria ...

Bergers, quittez vos retraites,

Unissez-vous à leurs concerts,

Et que vos tendres musettes

Fassent retenir les airs :

Gloria ...

Angels We Have Heard on High

Angels we have heard on high

Sweetly singing o'er the plains,

And the mountains in reply

Echoing their joyous strains.

Refrain

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Shepherds, why this jubilee?

Why your joyous strains prolong?

What the gladsome tidings be

Which inspire your heavenly song?

Refrain

Come to Bethlehem and see

Christ Whose birth the angels sing;

Come, adore on bended knee,

Christ the Lord, the newborn King.

Refrain

See Him in a manger laid,

Whom the choirs of angels praise;

Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,

While our hearts in love we raise.

Refrain

Now sing along with the rest of us bloggers and sing your way through the rest of the Christmas season with the carols you loved best.

Born and raised in Massachusetts to an Acadian father and French-Canadian mother, I have been working on our family history for many years. I began with my mother's side of the family when I was about 11 years old. It was a long time before I knew my father was Acadian. I love knowing my heritage. It gives me a wonderful sense of who I am.
After all these years, you can imagine how many books I have purchased for research. I've decided it is time to part with some of these precious research materials - thus the creation of this blog "Lucie's Book Nook".
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Lucie LeBlanc Consentino

ROSE BLOGGER AWARD

Lucie's Legacy, Acadian Ancestral Home, Whispers Through The Willows. This Award is dedicated to my mother Roseanna Levesque LeBlanc. It is awarded to bloggers who keep the memory of their ancestors alive.